Polkinghorne eager to continue winning ways

A draw against DPR Korea is enough to get them to Rio but co-captain Clare Polkinghorne says the only thing on the Westfield Matildas’ mind is notching up another win.

Three consecutive wins has put the Westfield Matildas in a formidable position heading into crunch time of the Olympic qualifying tournament.

The Westfield Matildas also enjoy an extremely healthy goal difference thanks largely to the nine goals they put past Vietnam, while defensively they have only conceded once.

After setting themselves up beautifully, it all comes down to the final two games against DPR Korea on Monday night and then China on Wednesday, the two teams who just so happen to be the ones that could displace the Westfield Matildas from one of the prized top two positions.

While a draw against DPR Korea will see the Westfield Matildas qualify, Polkinghorne says the approach heading into the clash will be no different from the others they have played.

“We’ve started with three good wins but there are still two more to go and we’ve refocused after the last game against Korea Republic and are preparing to approach this match against DPR Korea like we would any other,” said Polkinghorne.

“We need to keep focused and not lose sight on what we came here to do.

“We’re very close now but it’s still not definite so we’re going heading into the game looking to get the three points.”

There are a host of possible permutations depending on what happens in the matches still to be played, with the result between China and Korea Republic in the early game on Monday set to also have a bearing on the situation.

But regardless of the possible various outcomes, Polkinghorne says the Westfield Matildas’ mentality remains the same to what it was prior to the first game of the tournament against Japan and that they would not be parking the bus in the hope of getting a point against DPR Korea.

“We knew coming in that we would need to play five top games to get to Rio and that hasn’t changed,” said Polkinghorne.

“We want to go into this game to win and if we play as well as we can there’s no reason we can’t.

“We need to make sure we do the job tomorrow.”

The Westfield Matildas’ match against DPR Korea kicks off at 9.35pm AEDT and will be LIVE nationally on 7mate (LIVE stream: 7Live.com.au )